In today’s consensus revenue estimating conference, state officials including the House and Senate Fiscal Agencies and the Department of Treasury, estimated a $970 million budget surplus over the next three years.

For Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, there is an established $374 million surplus in the general fund (GF) and $56 million in the school aid fund (SAF) for a total of $430 million of actual surplus.

The FY 2014 estimates are $126 million in GF and $90 million in SAF higher than the budget estimates from May of 2013.

The FY 2015 estimates are $206 million in GF and $119 million in SAF higher than the budget estimates from May of 2013.

League President Jackie Noonan issued a statement calling for lawmakers to reinvest in communities after a decade of using revenue sharing dollars to fill state budget holes.

Michigan Municipal League statement on budget surplus Jan 2014

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

Category two to qualify for funding under the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP) is due on February 1, 2014. Category two is consolidation of services.

To qualify for category two a local unit of government must certify to the Department of Treasury that they have produced a consolidation plan.

First time filers must submit a list of any previous service cooperation, collaboration, consolidation, innovation and/or privatization and include an estimated cost savings amount.  A first time filer must also include one or more new proposals and include an estimated savings amount and estimated timeline.

Previous filers must include an update on the status of previous years’ proposals including its implementation, barriers experienced and an estimated timeline of completion.  A previous filer must also include one or more new proposals to increase cooperation, collaboration, consolidation, innovation or privatization.

If you have any questions please contact the League or Treasury directly at TreasRevenueSharing@michigan.gov

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

This morning Governor Snyder discussed his plan for a “no regrets” energy future by 2025.  He enumerated several goals for the state’s energy policy focusing on the areas of adaptability (eliminating energy waste), reliability (reducing outages and their length), affordability of rates and protection of the environment. The press release is available here: NR energy plan.

This announcement came after the Governor’s special message on energy and environment that he gave last year.  Additionally this year the Michigan Public Service Commission issued four energy reports specifically focusing on energy efficiency, renewable energy, electric choice and additional areas (i.e., reliability, higher rates and natural gas storage expansion). A summary of the MPSC reports is available here: summary of energy reports

We expect the discussion around these energy issues to heat up in 2014 and 2015.

Earlier this week the House Local Government Committee reported HB 5074, a bill that would change the monthly interest rate that a county treasurer can charge other taxable units in the county that have delinquent property taxes due. The current monthly rate of interest is one percent. Under the bill, the monthly rate of interest would be “up to” one percent.

Under Michigan’s tax reversion process, county treasurers can assess “chargebacks” under the protocol they follow when local units of government have borrowed from a county’s delinquent tax revolving fund. If summer and winter property taxes are not collected by March 1 of the following year that the tax is owed, local treasurers pass on notices of unpaid or delinquent taxes to county treasurers. In many counties, the county treasurer runs a delinquent tax revolving fund.

Earlier this week the House Local Government Committee reported HB 5102, a bill that would eliminate the requirement that county treasurers make a printed copy of the tax rolls available for inspection, if the tax roll is maintained on a computerized database.

This afternoon the House passed House Bill 4271, a bill that would allow local units of government to regulate (or ban) provisioning centers (i.e. dispensaries).

Back in May the League testified about the need for local control and clarity in the Act. At that time we were joined by two city attorneys, Clyde Robinson (Kalamazoo) and Stephen Postema (Ann Arbor) who detailed how those cities have reacted to the 2008 law.  Last week Stephen Postema testified again about the need for local control and clarity.

The legislation now heads to the Senate for its consideration.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

Yesterday the House passed a package of bills, Senate Bills 541-545, that make positive clarifying changes to PA 152 of 2011, the Publicly Funded Health Insurance Contribution Act.

Senate Bill 541 would amend the definition of “medical benefit plan”, which currently excludes benefits provided to individuals retired from a public employer. The bill also would exclude a public employer’s contributions to a fund used for the sole purpose of funding health care benefits available to public employees or elected public officials only upon retirement or separation from service.

Senate Bill 542 would amend the requirements regarding the cap on the dollar limit that a public employer may pay toward health care costs. The bill would also increase the multiplier used to calculate the cap on the total dollar amount that a public employer may pay toward health care costs for individual and spouse coverage; include individual plus one nonspouse dependent coverage within family coverage for cap calculation purposes; include elected officials in calculation of the cap; and exclude from calculation of the cap employees or elected officials who declined coverage.

Senate Bill 543 would amend provisions that allow a public employer to opt for a percentage limit on its medical plan contributions, instead of complying with the dollar amount limits, for a medical benefit plan coverage year. Under this option, a public employer may not pay more than 80% of the total annual costs of all of the medical benefit plans it offers or contributes to for its employees and elected public officials.

Senate Bill 544 would require any contracts or other agreements in effect on September 27, 2011, to conform to contribution limits under the Publicly Funded Health Insurance Contribution Act. Currently, this applies to agreements in effect on September 15, 2011.

Senate Bill 545 would modify a provision that allows a local unit of government to exempt itself from the Act’s requirements by a two-thirds vote of its governing body each year, and requires a two-thirds vote to extend an exemption to a new year. The bill would require an exemption or extension vote to take place before the beginning of the medical benefit plan coverage year.

The League is supportive of these changes as they are important clarifications that will help with PA 152 compliance and interpretation from the Department of Treasury. The bills now head to the Governor for his signature.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

This afternoon the House Energy & Technology Committee reported Senate Bill 636, a bill that would give phone companies the ability to transition from traditional land lines to internet-based service beginning January 1, 2017.

The bill would amend the Michigan Telecommunications Act to do make a number of changes including eliminating a requirement for a Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) proceeding for a telecommunication provider to discontinue basic local exchange or toll service to an exchange, beginning January 1, 2017. It would also require a provider wishing to discontinue service to notify the MPSC, the provider’s customers, any interconnecting providers, and the public at the same time as filing a petition for discontinuance with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The bill would further require a provider to notify the same parties again upon the FCC’s approval, at least 90 days before discontinuing service. It would also allow the MPSC to issue an order allowing the current provider to provide the service until another willing provider was available, if the MPSC determined that another provider was not capable of providing the service.

The legislation now heads to the House floor for approval by the whole chamber.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

This morning the House Judiciary Committee passed various bills addressing medical marijuana including House Bill 4271, a bill that would allow local units of government to regulate (or ban) provisioning centers (i.e. dispensaries).

Back in May the League testified about the need for local control and clarity in the Act. At that time we were joined by two city attorneys, Clyde Robinson (Kalamazoo) and Stephen Postema (Ann Arbor) who detailed how those cities have reacted to the 2008 law.  Last week Stephen Postema testified again about the need for local control and clarity.

The legislation is now on the House floor for a vote.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

Yesterday morning the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on various bills addressing medical marijuana including House Bill 4271, a bill that would allow local units of government to regulate (or ban) provisioning centers (i.e. dispensaries).

Back in May the League testified about the need for local control and clarity in the Act. At that time we were joined by two city attorneys, Clyde Robinson (Kalamazoo) and Stephen Postema (Ann Arbor) who detailed how those cities have reacted to the 2008 law.  Yesterday Stephen Postema testified again about the need for local control and clarity.

The committee intends to vote on the legislation on Tuesday morning.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org